Cal v. UW Photo Essay: First Half

DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?!?!  We did it.  We did it!  WE SHOCKED THE WORLD!

I was going to rush the field and tear down the goalposts after the seismic UPSET Cal delivered on Saturday by beating UW.  Alas, nobody was with me.  But all good stories, have to start somewhere. 

GO BEARS!

The 1230 start times suck royally for tailgating.  But we get used to it after a while.  The usual games of competative skill are enjoyed.

Of course, it being so early in the morning, sometimes things don't go as well as planned.

Ouch!

Witty tailgate menus lend an air of class to any proceeding:

I've always said "Nothing hits the spot better at 9:30 AM than a mango sausage."

One of the problems that I encounter at tailgates is that I don't drink.  So, I've always felt a little out of place at tailgates when the mass shotgunning occurs.  And believe me, it occurs early and often.  Emphasis on painfully early these days:

Thankfully, there's something else for me to shotgun.  I just stuff one of these delightful Cal pastries into my mouth as fast as humanly possible.  I attempt not to choke to death.  Generally, I am successful.

But soon it is time to head up to the game.  I got there about 20 minutes early and was stunned (absolutely stunned) to see the numbers.

Here's UW mascot:

Yknow, WSU, UW, UA, and UCLA's mascots all sort of run together for me.  Not a lot of creativity there.  Except for UA's dude who wears the hat.  Thats a nice hat!  I could see Oski in a sweet hat like that.  Why doesn't Oski wear a hat?  It worked for Malibu Stacey, it can work for Oski!

The team came running out, but didn't run all the way out as they normally do. Instead they created a line for the seniors:

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

There was a grand ovation for Longshore.  After reading that Chron article on Friday, I feel bad for him.  An interesting chapter in Cal athletics:

Players were warming up on the sidelines:

Or just watching the action:

Tedford was getting the team ramped up.

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

Some game action:

I managed to get 1 shot of Jahvid's first TD.  Not a great one, though:

I don't know why exactly, but NOBODY crowd surfed.  Maybe bc there weren't a ton of people there, I don't know.

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

The rare non-TD run by Best:

Here, Longshore went rogue again.  Tedford had called for the fake fake kick.  The ultra rare fake fake!  But Longshore called the fake fake fake.  You can tell that he did by the way that the team acted as if he had never said anything ever about it.  This was actually the FG we missed.  I look forward to HydroTech's 4000 word dissertation on this fake fake fake kick.

Speaking of going rogue, TheNick went rogue on me.  Putting up his own vastly superior photos in a FanPost, instead of letting me use them to agument my pathetic photos.  Damn you, TheNick!  Only your impressive nolej of Berkeley Thai foodeateries staves off the B& Hammer!

I believe this is the aftermath of the sack and fumble recovery.

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

For those who were on the edge of their seats, Ed McKnight (old dude who hasnt missed a game since 1934) was the fan of the year.  Dude, he should be the fan of the frigging century.

The BearVision was in reruns!  They asked what the most memorable moment was and we had heard it all again.

Their excuse last year was the Writer's Strike!  This year, what's the excuse???

Longshore, potentially throwing it away:

Mansion and Sweeney with the headsets while Riley stands to their right, relaxing.  I wasn't sure why he was taken out and then seemingly demoted to 4th string.  I guess that was the plan all along.

Longshore throws a sideline pass to Ross:

I bet Best ran for at least 50 yards on this one:

Yep, there he goes:

Some more game action from TrisWeb.

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

DURITZ

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

via TrisWeb

So, there we go.  Those are the first half photos there.  Soon, we'll have the second half stuff, including videos of the band's rather impressive performance.  GO BEARS!